Universal Registration Document 2021

3. Non-financial performance

Listening, dialogue, and partnerships

With a view to continuous improvement, EDF engages in listening, dialogue, and partnership relations in respect of responsible procurement.

Partners

EDF supports and contributes to the work done by France’s National Procurement Council (Conseil national des achats), Responsible Procurement Observatory (Observatoire des achats responsables, OBSAR), the Pacte PME Association, and the French Nuclear Energy Industry Group (Groupement des industriels français de l’énergie nucléaire, GIFEN). EDF’s membership of GIFEN allows it to contribute to excellence in the nuclear industry, for instance with the recent creation of Université des métiers du nucléaire, a Nuclear Industry University. For some 15 years now, EDF has had a partnership agreement with GESAT, a national French network of sheltered workshop providers; the latter facilitates contact between businesses in this sector and clients. EDF is also involved with France’s New Energy Systems Strategic Sector Committee (Comité stratégique de la filière des nouveaux systèmes énergétiques), which brings together stakeholders in renewable energies, storage, energy efficiency, decarbonation, and grids.
Attunement

In 2021, a survey of GIFEN members was conducted to measure the effects of the implementation of the New Contractual Model and Contractual Engineering. EDF took part in the Pacte PME Association’s 2021 Observatory; this assessed the quality of relationships between major clients and SMEs.
Dialogue at site level

In each country, to nurture dialogue, promote the development of relations between EDF suppliers and local businesses, and improve the skills of these companies, EDF entities organise regular forums and specific schemes such as the “One River, One Territory” agency to encourage local economic development around its hydroelectric installations, the Salon à l’Envers event at Cattenom, and the Rencontre Performance® Les marchés publics, un bon plan pour booster son entreprise initiative organised by the Loiret CCI.
The responsible procurement process

Group commitments and obligations in respect of responsible procurement apply to every stage of the procurement process, including during prior supplier qualification, as well as during preparation of calls for tenders.

The EDF group’s Procurement Department takes CSR into account in supplier relations in line with the following principles:

Principles

The EDF group’s Procurement Department takes CSR into account in supplier relations in line with the following principles:

Supplier commitments:

  • systematic inclusion of a Sustainable Development Charter for EDF and its supplier as part of tender documentation;
  • the inclusion of a sustainable development clause in General Terms and Conditions of Purchase;
  • validation of a compliance commitment for all bidders (mandatory to respond to the call for tenders) coverings the following areas: corruption, money-laundering, the funding of terrorism, and the absence of any conflict of interest. Bidders undertake to comply with requirements pursuant to the French Duty of Vigilance Act: observing human rights and the fundamental rights of individuals, guaranteeing individuals’ health and safety at work, protecting the environment, and complying with social and environmental legislation applying to their business;
  • incorporation of CSR criteria in tenders, including specific criteria in the specifications on the basis of the risks identified for each type of contract and/or to address Group CSR aspirations such as the use of sheltered workshops, local engagement, and the inclusion of SMEs in the supplier panel;
  • the development of Productivity Partnerships;
  • ensuring these principles are upheld by suppliers (see section 3.4.2.3.3).
Procedures

The Group Procurement Department continues to interact with suppliers – including SMEs, ISEs, VSEs and startups – with the operational implementation of a process adapted for innovative purchasing and to make it easier for SMEs to access EDF’s markets. This entails the acceptance of:

  • a single point of contact in the form of a dedicated space on the institutional www.edf.fr website, specifying the general terms and conditions of purchase and the general terms and conditions of purchase for “small orders”;
  • a simplified capacity questionnaire for new suppliers, for tenders with amounts lower than the thresholds of European Directive 2014/ 25/EU;
  • a tailored purchasing process and standard agreements for innovative startups and SMEs.